Familiar lineup on ballot

INCUMBENT MCDEVITT, EPLEY FACE OFF AGAIN FOR BURKE SHERIFF

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

MORGANTON -- A two-term incumbent and a former sheriff are repeating Burke County election history. Again.

Democratic Sheriff John McDevitt and Republican Richard Epley are running against each other for the third time since McDevitt took the election, and the job, from then-incumbent Epley, in 1998.

Both candidates have said they want to focus on the issues this year and that they don't want a repeat of the last two races, where campaign spending and animosity reached all-time highs.

"Everyone says they want to keep it clean," McDevitt said. "What can be said that hasn't already been said?"

Said Epley: "It's been nasty, and it's been dirty, and I don't want to put my family through that."

In 1998, the candidates spent a combined $100,000 on campaigning - a Burke County record - and Epley lost the election with 49 percent of the vote to McDevitt's 51 percent.

Epley immediately announced his plans for a rematch in 2002, a race that cost the candidates about $200,000, doubling the price tag from the previous race. McDevitt defeated Epley with 53 percent of the vote.

This year, Epley said he's going to concentrate more on making contact with voters than raising money. So far, he's run a considerably less expensive campaign.

According to the most recent campaign finance reports, filed on June 27, Epley had raised $1,754.90 since Jan. 1. The report shows $1,115.97 in expenditures. Epley said he has raised about $10,000 more since then.

McDevitt, meanwhile, had raised $72,226.95 since Jan. 1, 2003 and had spent $53,467.71, according to a report submitted July 7.

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What they're saying

Since losing the race in 1998, Epley has built a successful private police and security company in Morganton. The experience, he said, has allowed him to work with county residents on a grassroots level.

He wants to see more cooperation between other law enforcement agencies and the Sheriff's Office, better response time and more attention crimes such as drug dealing, larceny and breaking and entering.

Epley also said he plans to combat illegal immigration by securing grants that would provide officers the training to identify and detain illegal immigrants.

"Terrorists can get in here just like they can anywhere else," he said.

McDevitt said he's paying attention to all those things and encourages voters to look at his eight years in office.

"I stand on my record," he said. "It speaks for itself."

McDevitt, a 31-year law enforcement veteran, touts his officer-training program and effectiveness of officers in the Rutherford College and Hildebran satellite offices.

He lists accolades his office has won, including an award from the International Narcotics Enforcement Officer's Association for a federal drug investigation.

Collaboration between the Sheriff's Office and state and federal agencies was nonexistent when Epley left office, McDevitt said. Now, he said, the State Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms work out of the same building.

"It's the best it's ever been, without a doubt," McDevitt said.

Not true, said Epley. He said he had established good working relationships with state and federal agencies, including the Department of Social Services and the SBI, and said all agencies he worked with had an open invitation to use desk space within the Sheriff's Office.

"We had people from all over the country that we had been working with," he said. "I don't know where (McDevitt) got this idea that he has better federal working relationships that I did."

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What others are saying

Voters are used to seeing McDevitt and Epley's names on the ballot, but Warren Daniel, chairman of the Burke County Republican Party, said he doesn't think all voters have already decided who they'll pick at the polls.

If Epley is successful in getting his message to voters, Daniel said, residents will see a man who is committed to law enforcement and the people in the county. "It's not about Richard Epley, it's about Burke County."

Arthur Davis of Morganton, a lifelong Democrat, said he'll support Epley if he wins but is impressed with McDevitt, particularly his commitment to fighting drug-related crime and his community involvement.

"You don't have to run around and make him do his job," he said. "He'll get up and go (to a crime scene) even if the middle of the night."


Richard Epley

Party: Republican

Age: 50 Birthplace: Burke County

Occupation: CEO of United Special Police and Security

Elected offices: Burke County sheriff, 1994-1998

Family: Wife, Sandra R. Epley; sons Nicholas and Dillion; daughter, Jessica

Education: Associate's degree in police science, Western Piedmont Community College, 1984; bachelor's degree in criminal justice, Gardner Webb University, 1986

Religious/civic involvement: Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church; Valdese Rotary Club; Marine Corps League; member of the Catawba Valley Masonic Lodge; former chairman of the Burke County Republican Party

Why running: To confront drug-related crime more aggressively, bring positive change to the sheriff's department and better response time within the county. The budget has increased but there has been no growth in the number of officers answering calls for service, and I'd like to see better service to Burke County residents.

What are the top issues facing the Burke County Sheriff's Office?

The top three issues facing the sheriff's office are immigration, methantheline and property crime.


John McDevitt

Party: Democrat

Age: 51 Birthplace: Blue Ridge, Ga.

Occupation: Burke County sheriff

Elected offices: Burke County sheriff, 1998-present

Family: Wife, Cathy Cooper McDevitt; sons Thomas and John; daughter, Caitlin

Education: Associate's degree in police science, Western Piedmont Community College, 1975

Religious/civic involvement: N.C. Sheriff's Association; National Sheriff's Association; National Drug Enforcement Committee; president of Blue Ridge Police Executives; Burke County Law Enforcement Retirees; Fraternal Order of Police; Smoky Mountain Police Executives; Burke County Homeland Security, board member of Burke County Criminal Justice Advisory Board; executive member of the Piedmont Council of Boy Scouts; board member of the Western Piedmont Community College Criminal Justice Advisory Board; member Oak Hill Methodist Church; Oak Hill Ruritan Club; Table Rock Shooters; Morganton Men's Club

Why running: To continue professional and credible law enforcement services to all the residents of Burke County. The sheriff should be the emissary of goodwill between all law enforcement agencies, and cooperation between the agencies in Burke County is at an all-time high. During the past eight years as sheriff, I have been able to acquire more than $2.7 million in federal grants, state grants and alternative funding, and I would like to continue these various programs.

What are the top issues facing the Burke County Sheriff's Office?

The top three issues facing the sheriff's office are salaries, manpower and vehicles.


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